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Chronologically organized, The Western Humanities presents the cultural achievements of western civilizationart, music, history, literature, theater, film and the other artswithin their historical context.

By examining the historical and material conditions that influenced the form and content of the arts and literature, the authors provide students a deeper understanding of the meaning of cultural works and a broader basis for appreciating the humanities.

Hundreds of illustrations appear throughout the text, "Slices of Life" boxes bring to life the events of the day, and brief sections at the end of each chapter describe the cultural legacy of the era discussed.

Preface

Introduction: Why Study Cultural History?

A Humanities Primer: How to Understand the Arts

Prehistory and Near Eastern Civilizations

Prehistory and Early Cultures

Paleolithic Period

The Neolithic Revolution

The Age of Metals,

The Rise of Civilization: Mesopotamia

The Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian Kingdoms

The Cradle of Civilization

Writing

Religion

Encounter: The Phoenicians and the Alphabet

Literature

Law

Science, Mathematics, and Medicine

Slice of Life:"A Sumerian Father Lectures His Son" Anonymous, from clay tablets

Art and Architecture

The Civilization of the Nile Rover Valley: Egypt

Continuity and Change over Three Thousand Years

A Quest for Eternal Cultural Values

Religion

Writing and Literature

Science and Medicine

Architecture

Slice of Life: Life's Instruction Book for Egyptians , Anonymous, from A Papyrus Text

Sculpture, Painting, and Minor Arts

Heirs to the Mesopotamian and Egyptian Empires

The Assyrians

The Neo-Babylonians

The Medes and the Persians

The Legacy of Early Near Eastern Civilizations

Key Cultural Terms

Questions for Critical Thinking

Aegean Civilizations: the Minoans, the Mycenaeans, and the Greeks of the Archaic Age